The
School Of Athens, Raphael (1483-1520)Scuola
di Atene, Raffaello SanzioThe School
of Athens portrays Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient philosophers
engaged in philosophic inquiry.For more detail on
individual philosophers, click on the image above.

For analysis of Raphael's artistic conception and technique, click on the image below.

Changes to the Fresco Intended to Obscure Historical RevisionismThe Mystery Surrounding the Fresco-
Comparisons of Raphael's preliminary compositional sketches with his final working drawings, detailed physical examinations of the fresco itself, including those made during the restoration of the masterpiece unveiled in 1996, and various historical documents and letters, some of which, though no longer extant, are quoted or paraphrased in contemporaneous documents, all reveal that significant changes from the artist's original conception of his masterpiece occurred prior to completion of the fresco, in 1510, and after completion of the fresco, by a radical alteration which may not have been at the artist's own hand, in 1511. These changes point to mysterious tales of papal scandal, political intrigue, and mob violence stretching back to the fifth century C.E.

For an insight into the mystery surrounding the fresco, click on the image above.